Improvement in paper shirt-collars



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW EVANS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

. IMPROVEMENT IN PAPER SHlRT-COLLARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,664, dated May 26, 1863; antedated May 15, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW A. EVANS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shirt-Collars; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I am aware that shirt-collars have been made of a fabric composed of paper and woven cloth prepared in a peculiar manner, as in the patent numbered 11,376, and that indifferent collars have been made of the ordinary kinds of paper; but the former is expensive, has a comparatively-coarse appearance, and when turned over is apt to crack, so as to form a roughened edge, while the latter is too fragile and tender to make a suitable button-hole or be of much utility as a collar.

The nature of my invention therefore consists, first, in making shirt-collars of a fabric known to the trade as parchment-paper, or

paper prepared with animal sizing, which may be manufactured cheaper than a fabric composed of paper and cloth, is sufiicieutly tough and strong to form tenacious button-holes, is susceptible of a smoother surface and polish than cloth-paper, and can be turned over without cracking, and forming a roughened edge, &c.; second, in coating one side or both sides of paper shirt-collars with a thin varnish of bleached shellac, which notonly'adds smoothness, strength, and stiffness to the fabric, but

also, being a repellant of water, prevents perspiration or other moisture from entering the collar. The shellac, moreover, renders the surface of the paper so hard and smooth that it wears much longer without being soiled by exposure to dust or damp.

I make my collars of any of the patterns or shapes in general use, either stand-up or turn-over, and provided with button-holes, by means of which they are attached to shirts in the usual manner. paper, or paper prepared with animal sizing, and cover one side or both sides of it with thin varnish of bleached shellac, and allow it to dry. The paper is then passed between polishing-rollers, such as are in general use for polishing paper or cloth; and this operation finishes the fabric ready to be made into collars. The collars are cut out and the buttonholes punched by dies with great rapidity.

My invention constitutes, I think, a great improvement in the art of making shirt-collars, producing a cheaper and better article of its kind than any known or used before.

Having thus described the nature and operation of my improvement, what I clainr as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

A shirt-collar made of parchment-paper, and coated with varnish of bleached shellac, substantially as described, and 'for the objects specified.

ANDREW A. EVANS.

Witnesses:

N. EVANS, J r., N. AMES.

I first take parchment- 

